Chicago it’s A Hell of a Town

Kevin Williams (R) with his wife Jane and daughter Alex at the Willis Tower in Chicago (Jane Williams)

Back after a few days off as I did a long weekend in Chicago with my wife and daughter.

Since we have the beach in the summer we thought we would try something different. I had been to Chicago with a bunch of friends on a baseball trip more than 10 years ago and my wife had been there once but never together. Alex, who had never been there before planned out much of the itinerary for us and we had a great time.

On my previous trip I did not really see much of the city and frankly I was surprised and impressed by it, especially by the cleanliness of the “magnificent mile” area we stayed in.

Kevin Williams with his wife Jane and daughter Alex at Wrigley Field in Chicago (Kevin Williams)

There were so many things to do. We certainly got in our share of walking and I even learned how to use my Uber app. The city features some incredible architecture which we saw up close and during a boat tour along the Chicago River.

A must is a visit to the 1,450 foot Willis Tower, the second-tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere. The observation deck known as Skydeck affords incredible views and retractable glass balconies that allow you to look through the floor to the street below which is simply amazing. It was certainly one of the highlights of the trip.

However if you are planning a trip to Chicago in the summer you must do it when the Cubs are home and take in a game at Wrigley Field because there is nothing like it. Fenway Park in Boston is great but the atmosphere at Wrigley is unmatched and every Cubs home game is an event.

Part of that is the dozens of bars that surround the North Side neighborhood where the field is located and they are all filled before and after the game. The best of them is Murphy’s Bleachers which I remembered from my previous Wrigley visit and we got there early enough before the game to find a perfect outdoor table at this 80-year old institution.

We then made our way into the stadium on a perfect summer afternoon with great seats in the shade behind home plate along with a hot dog and cold beer. As bad as the Mets are it would not be hard to switch our allegiance to the Cubs for the atmosphere alone and both Jane and Alex agreed that it was the highlight of our trip. We’ll stick with the Mets...for now!

We are lucky to have both New York and Philadelphia so close but I will tell you that the Windy City is pretty special and stealing the lyrics from the popular Frank Sinatra song…”Chicago is one town that won’t let you down, it’s my kind of town.”